The Taste: Field to Fork (Los Angeles, CA)

This past weekend, The Taste returned to LA. In its second year, it’s one of the biggest food festivals in the city, stretching over the three day Labor Day weekend. It was a slightly slimmed down version this year with less events (5), one location (Paramount Studios), and a more approachable ticket price ($65 in advance, $75 at the door, $50 via a LivingSocial promo).

Similar to last year, the five events each had a different theme. Each featured its own lineup of cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, chef panels and book signings. Of course, unlimited food & drink tastings were included in the ticket price as well, making this one of the most complete (if not the most) food event packages for 65 bucks.

The first event of the weekend, ‘Field to Fork’, reflected the farm-to-table concept that we’ve been seeing more and more of around the country. In addition to the ~30 restaurants whipping up dishes, there were a number of farms showcasing their produce, as well a panel on the ‘State of the Farmers Market.’

Drinks were also plentiful, perhaps moreso than the food itself. One of my favorites was Veev pouring drinks (mojito or lemonade) into these mason jars.

I probably stopped by the Vita Coco stand a dozen times throughout the weekend.

And tasted my way through several pours of scotch and tequila…

in between other cocktails and wines.

I was also able to catch a few minutes of one of the wine tasting seminars and the tail end of a cooking competition between David LeFevre (M.B. Post) and Ray Garcia (Fig).

This was a fun event. Given it was outdoors and pretty damn hot out, shade and anything cold (cocktails!) were in high demand. Food-wise, I didn’t think there was anything spectacular, but some of the highlights were Scarpetta’s porchetta, Valerie Confections’ basil panna cotta, and Wood & Vine’s chicken liver & foie gras pate. Scarpetta’s porchetta, which seemed to actually just be roasted pork belly, was lucious, tender and delicious. Served with a smoky corn puree and a light vinaigrette to cut through the richness – it was a winner. Valerie Confections brought a couple of my favorite bites of the weekend; here, the panna cotta was smooth and creamy with a subtle basil flavor. Paired with a sweet apricot preserve, this was another hit. I thought Sysco was an odd inclusion in the ‘restaurant’ lineup, but I’ll never complain with large roasts of strip loin beef. Lastly, I appreciated Wood & Vine taking the opportunity to give away some foie gras, in a duo of tasty livers (chicken and foie) on a crispy crostini.

Being one of the more reasonable ticket prices in the LA food festival arena, The Taste presented quite a bit of value with its considerable array of food/drink-related activities. I’m excited to see how The Taste evolves next year.